On Tuesday, April 21, while students had the week off from school, Enfield Public Library hosted a few sessions of classes on origami, the art of folding paper to make flowers, animals and other shapes. Fran Block, a former enrichment teacher who also plays the fiddle, taught the one-hour classes.

"To me, it's magical," Block said. "You take a piece of paper and it can become so many things."

Children ages 7 to 10 attended the first class, which was filled to capacity with 15 kids. Block told them they had to listen carefully and follow the directions precisely to make sure their projects came out right.

The youngsters first chose three sheets of colored paper and a pencil, which were on a nearby table. Then they sat down at the two long tables and listened as Block told them how to fold the paper. The projects came easy to some, but others needed a little help. A few parents provided assistance.

The first project looked like a cat face, the next like a dog face.

Block encouraged the kids to try origami at home, using scrap paper and pages from magazines that were headed to the recycling bin. She said that directions could be found on the internet.

During the workshop, there seemed to be a gender difference in styles. Girls chose paper in light shades of green, blue and pink and followed the directions exactly, drawing faces on their creations. Some boys went a different route. Two of them, Colin and Ryan, opted for paper in black, gray and blue, and modified their creations somewhat, calling them vampire bats and dragons, and drew on fangs.

The last project was a little more difficult. After much folding, it became a bunny rabbit. Block showed the kids how to blow into it to make it inflate into a little three-dimensional bunny that could stand on its own.

"Everyone did a great job," said Block, at the end of the session. Tweens and teens could attend the second session.